LEWISTON — Go big.

That’s what Lewiston needs to do if it wants the state to pay for replacing the aging Martel and Longley elementary schools, Superintendent Bill Webster said Monday.

If Lewiston went that route, it would mean a new school for 1,000 to 1,200 students, bigger than any elementary school in Maine and uncommon in New England, Webster said.

The decision ultimately will be up to Lewiston voters.

The idea is being considered by the Lewiston Redistricting Committee, which will recommend in January what grades, and how big, the new school should be.

After meeting with state officials, Webster reported they favored closing the schools and building one for up to 1,200 students.

That enrollment is more than the schools’ approximately 850 students. The idea is that students from some or all of the four other elementary schools would also attend, relieving overcrowding.

There are no cost estimates yet since the size and location of the school are not decided. Given the city’s financial need, the state could pay for 95 percent of the project, Webster said. “As we get closer, we’ll come up with cost projections.”

Webster said Monday that he was initially taken back by the state’s suggestion of such a large school.

“Key information is that (the state Department of Education) is only going to fund one school project for Lewiston,” he said. Martel School is No. 8 on the state school funding construction list, Longley is No. 20. The state does not expect to get to No. 20, Webster said.

And in the next round of school construction projects, “Longley wouldn’t be as high up because one of the key considerations that put the school at No. 20 was security,” Webster said.

Since that list came out, Longley has taken over the former Lewiston Multi-Purpose Center. Center programs moved to the armory next to the middle school. There are still a lot of needs in the school, but it is more secure, Webster said.

So, unless local taxpayers are willing to pay out of their own pockets, the only way to address improvements at both schools is by having one large school, he said.

He acknowledged the proposed size may raise eyebrows.

“Whether Lewiston is ready for a school of that size remains to be seen,” Webster said. “We’ve still got a lot of work before us. The Department of Education will take a citywide perspective on our needs. If we could justify a school of 1,200 kids to relieve overcrowding across the city, they would be receptive to that.”

The largest elementary school in Maine is in Brewer with about 850 students, Webster said. Outside of New England, an elementary school of that size is not uncommon, but Mainers aren’t used to such large schools. “We know schools of 700 students. We’re comfortable with that. A school that size employs a full-time phys ed teacher, art, music.”

Creating such a large school would take some education and visits to schools of that size outside New England “to get firsthand accounts of how do you make a school of 1,000” feel like a small school in terms of staff knowing each student.

There could be benefits to a large school, Webster said. The city’s student population is growing about 100 a year, a unique trend in Maine. With overcrowding at Montello, Geiger and McMahon elementary schools, “a larger school could address the city’s needs and favorably impact student levels of all schools,” Webster said. He said parents would have more school choice options than they do now.

A large school could be designed to create small schools within a large schools, or “pods.” It could create pods that focus on fine arts, technology or project-based learning, Webster said.

A large school could also mean Longley students, who have the lowest test scores, would be integrated with higher-performing students from other schools without negative consequences and boosting Longley students’ achievement, Webster said.

School Committee member Linda Scott, who chairs the Redistricting Committee, said she does not yet have an opinion on whether Lewiston should consider a large elementary school.

“This committee is still discussing it,” Scott said. “There could be a lot of positives. I just want to make sure we get information about it to the community.”

The Redistricting Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Geiger Elementary School.

The new school, as planned, would open in 2018. “To meet that time frame, we’re going to have to do site selection in March,” Webster said.

What kind of new Lewiston school to build?

LEWISTON — Options for a new elementary school to replace Martel, and maybe Longley, are being considered by the Lewiston Redistricting Committee. The options are:

* Make Farwell and Longley schools prekindergarten to grade two and build a new school for grades three to six in the Farwell, Longley and Martel districts. Students in the Martel district would go to Farwell for prekindergarten to grade two. The new school for grades three to six would have up to 700 students.

* Combine Martel and Longley schools at the Longley site, which would have capacity of 1,000 students.

* Combine Martel and Longley schools at a new site, possibly creating a large school that would enroll 1,000 to 1,200 students, relieving overcrowding at other schools.

* Build a new Martel school and expand its district, allowing it to enroll more students and ease overcrowding in other schools.  

Future redistricting meetings:

* 6 p.m. Nov. 12 at Geiger school;

* 6 p.m. Nov. 13 at Montello school;

* 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at Farwell school;

* 4:30 p.m. Dec. 1 at Dingley Building;

* 4:30 p.m. Dec. 16 at Dingley Building;

* 7 p.m. Jan. 7 at Dingley Building;

* 4:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at Dingley Building;

* 6:45 p.m. Jan 26 at Dingley Building for formal presentation to School Committee.

To contact redistricting committee members: Chairman Linda Scott, baybarrett@msn.com; Tom Shannon, papaTom4@roadrunner.com; Elizabeth Eames, eeames@bates.edu; Marnie Morneault, mabmorneault4@gwi.net; and Dawn Hartill, dawncoub@gmail.com.

For more information, including complete list of redistricting members, go to https://sites.google.com/a/lewistonpublicschools.org/lewiston-public-schools-redistricting/purpose

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